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“Street Scene” Opening on Nov. 17 Is a First for Hope Theatre

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Hope College Theatre has presented many types of productions through the decades -
Classical plays, Shakespearean comedies and tragedies, intimate contemporary character
studies, an elaborately staged retelling of the holiday favorite "The Nutcracker,"
the Kennedy Festival-honored "Rose and the Rime," musicals, the list goes on.

Never, in all those years, has the program staged a full opera, a circumstance that
is changing with the Wednesday-Saturday, Nov. 17-20, run of Kurt Weill's "Street Scene,"
a 1947 play that is being presented as a major collaboration of the departments of
theatre and music, and with support through a grant from the Kurt Weill Foundation.

"We are excited to present the first fully produced opera in our history of theatre
at Hope College" said Michelle Bombe, who is director of theatre at Hope as well as
a professor of theatre and resident costume designer, and is preparing the costumes
for the play. "This production marks a wonderful collaboration between the theatre
and music departments with faculty and students from both departments participating."

All four performances will be at 8 p.m. in the DeWitt Center main theatre.

As a story of jealousy, bitterness and disenchantment, "Street Scene" is based on
an earlier play by Elmer Rice, and explores the struggles of humanity of neighbors
living in a Depression-era New York City tenement. Residents from a variety of cultures,
ranging from Italians to Swedes to Jews, gather outside to get a breath of fresh air
and share bits and pieces of their lives. Over a period of one day there are births,
deaths, romances of all sorts, and plenty of gossip, building up a cluster of storylines
as events unfold. Weill wrote the music, with book by Rice and lyrics by Langston
Hughes.

"Street Scene" will be directed by John Tammi, professor of theatre at Hope. The
music director is Linda Dykstra, associate professor of music. The cast will include
not only Hope students but area children, with the college's Symphonette performing
as the orchestra for the production.

"'Street Scene' is ideal vehicle for showcasing the talents of our classical and musical
theatre singers, actors, dancers, and instrumentalists, as well as talented children
in the community," Dykstra said.

The project has received $4,000 through the Kurt Weill Foundation Grant Program, which
awards financial support to not-for-profit organizations for performances of Weill's
musical works, to individuals and not-for-profit organizations for scholarly research
projects, and to not-for-profit organizations for educational initiatives directly
related to Weill and/or his wife, singer Lotte Lenya. Bombe wrote the college's grant
proposal with assistance from Dykstra.

In addition to Tammi, Dykstra and Bombe, faculty members working on the production
team are Richard Piippo, associate professor of music, conductor; Linda Strouf, adjunct
assistant professor of music, rehearsal accompanist and assistant musical director;
Richard Smith, professor of theatre and resident scene designer, scenic and properties
designer; and Perry Landes, associate professor of theatre, resident sound and lighting
designer, and manager of theatre facilities, lighting and sound designer.

Tickets for "Street Scene" are $10 for regular admission, $7 for senior citizens and
Hope faculty and staff, and $5 for students, and are available at the ticket office
in the main lobby of the DeVos Fieldhouse. The ticket office is open weekdays from
10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and may be called at (616) 395-7890.

The DeVos Fieldhouse is located at 222 Fairbanks Ave., between Ninth and 11th streets.
The DeWitt Center is located at 141 E. 12th St., on Columbia Avenue at 12th Street.